When Toshiba announced the TDP-ET20U Multimedia DVD Projector ($1,399 direct), it said the unit was aimed at both business and home-theater use. But my impression from looking at its features was that the emphasis was much more on home theater. That impression has only been reinforced by running the TDP-ET20U through its paces. Even Toshiba admits that the business-presentation capability is more of a convenience feature than a core function.

The TDP-ET20U is first and foremost an instant theater projector, designed so you can set it up quickly in any convenient room, load a DVD, and watch movies. The only thing missing is a screen, such as the one that comes with the Epson MovieMate 33, another instant theater projector. But it's not hard to buy a screen separately, so that's not really an issue.

The projector is built around a DLP engine with a native 480p (854-by-480) resolution (though it will accept inputs all the way up to 1080i, and just scale them down to 480p) and 16:9 aspect ratiowhich is the first clue that it's really meant for home entertainment. It also includes its own DVD player, audio system, and speakers (the second clue), all packaged in a sleek black plastic case that will complement the decor in any family room or home entertainment room (the clincher).

A particularly nice touch is the extremely short throw (meaning that it can project a relatively large image from a short distance). Toshiba says the projector can throw a 100-inch-diagonal image from only 3.9 feet. In my tests it filled an 80-inch screen from 3.25 feet.

Toshiba rates the TDP-ET20U at only 1,100 lumens, and I measured it at 736 lumens. This would be low for a business projector, but is more than adequate for home entertainment purposes because normally you'll watch movies in a room with relatively little ambient light. In tests the contrast ratio was 169:1, the lowest I've measured in a DLP projector, but it's still adequate for rendering reasonably good detail in dark areas on the screen.

Thanks to a built-in Silicon Optix Realta HQV processor, the TDP-ET20U did an impressive job on the HQV Benchmark test, which measures how well the projector will do with standard-definition TV signals (480i), the most common video source available. It scored 116 out of a possible 130 points. More important, it did just as well as that score would suggest with a standard-definition TiVo connected to the projector's composite-video and S-Video inputs.

I saw occasional flashes of the rainbow effect that DLP projectors are known for, with white areas breaking up into red-green-blue rainbows. But even with the rainbow effect occasionally rearing its head, the TDP-ET20U is a good choice for special occasions such as watching your favorite team play an important game.

Unfortunately, it's less impressive for watching movies on DVD at 480p. I saw the same occasional flashes of the rainbow effect as with standard-definition images, but, far more important, skin tones showed some minor posterization, a problem I didn't see with standard-definition signals. The issue isn't extreme enough to make the TDP-ET20U unusable for movies on DVD, but the projector is clearly optimized for standard-definition video rather than 480p. This isn't to say that standard-definition 480i video looks better than 480p video overall on the TDP-ET20U; the difference is that 480i video looks very nearly as good as it can look, whereas 480p is nowhere near the best it can be.

The built-in audio is also less than ideal. The volume is loud enough to fill a small room, but the quality is a bit muddy, with a touch of the hollow tonality often compared to sounds emanating from the bottom of a barrel. If you want to connect to an external audio system for better quality, you'll find a coaxial connector on the front for digital audio output. But there's no analog audio output, although there is a miniplug for analog audio input as well as a coaxial connector for digital audio input. Other connectors include a set of RCA phono plugs for RGB component video and an HDMI 1.2a port for both computer and TV digital video.

Interestingly, the TDP-ET20U's strengths and weaknesses make it effectively the mirror image of the Epson MovieMate 33, which handles movies on DVD very well, but does a pretty awful job with standard video. If you're interested primarily in watching movies on DVD, you're best advised to look elsewhere, starting with the MovieMate 33. But if you're more interested in watching programming such as sports events using standard-definition signals, with an occasional movie on DVD thrown in, the TDP-ET20U may be the instant theater that suits you bestat least until one comes along that does everything well.

M. David Stone is an award-winning freelance writer and computer industry consultant. Although a confirmed generalist, with writing credits on subjects as varied as ape language experiments, politics, quantum physics, and an overview of a...

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